Hardware in the Loop Testing as a Tool for Pantograph Virtual Homologation

This paper addresses the "hardware-in-the-loop" simulation (HILS) of pantograph-catenary interaction. The paper mainly focus on "closed-loop" HILS, analysing the influence of some modelling options and reporting its validation against line measurements. The main features of the "open-loop" and "closed-loop" HIL testing approaches with respect to some typical tasks of pantograph virtual homologations and, more generally, in the perspective of supporting the development of a pantograph system, are then discussed.